Getting Ready for the Feast
By Pastor Jim May
We are entering the season of the year when all of us are preparing for our Thanksgiving Feast. The stores will be packed and the shelves will be empty of all things necessary for preparation of the feast. I’ve got mine; I hope you have yours. One more old Tom Turkey will be deep fried this week, and there won’t be much of him left when it’s all said and done.
I was reading the other day and came across this little story that I think you will enjoy. Almost everybody I know will be cooking a turkey this week, so listen to this story and learn how not to stuff that bird before popping it in the oven.
The turkey shot out of the oven,
And rocketed into the air.
It knocked every plate off the table,
And partly demolished a chair.
It ricocheted into a corner
And burst with a deafening boom.
Then splattered all over the kitchen,
Completely obscuring the room.
It stuck to the walls and the windows.
It totally coated the floor.
There was turkey attached to the ceiling,
Where there’d never been turkey before.
It blanketed every appliance.
It smeared every saucer and bowl.
There was no way I could stop it.
That turkey was out of control!
I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure,
And thought with chagrin as I mopped,
That I’d never again stuff a turkey
With popcorn that hadn’t been popped.
It sounds to me like somebody needed a new recipe!
Regardless of how your turkey turns out this Thanksgiving Day, we are a blessed people, living in a blessed nation, and we have so much to be thankful for.
I cannot help but think of the words of David in the 23rd Psalms where we read that, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."
In spite of all the negative news that we hear, I see no one here in want of anything. God has given you a green pasture to lie down in; and given you peace in the midst of turmoil. Our Great Shepherd leads us to a place of peace and rest, where we can see the beauty of life, even in the times of greatest trouble.
He restores our souls. Sometimes we forget him, and we may even begin the path towards backsliding; but Jesus, in his great mercy, always finds a way to bring us back to the right path. He never gives up on us, and for that we must be ever thankful.
Jesus, through his Word, leads us into the paths of righteousness. He teaches us of truth and holiness that we won’t follow the ways of the world or the words of foolish men.
The way may seem rough and rugged sometimes, but the path is always straight. It’s not hard to find the way to holiness and righteousness if we just keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and his Word.
Jesus does all of this for his name’s sake; for his own glory and the praise of his mercy and grace. My life, and yours, serves as a living memorial that gives praise to Jesus who leads us, and we give God glory just by being faithful.
I’m thankful because Jesus blesses me in spite of myself. It’s nothing that I have done that gives me the right to be blessed. It’s all because Jesus just wants to bless me. The scripture says that it’s for his name’s sake.
The Bible tells us in Psalms 37:23-25, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."
In your path today there is a place of still waters where you can rest and not be in fear. The Spirit of God dwelling in your heart gives you peace when everything and everyone around are trembling in fear. Through every trial of life we still have that calm assurance that Jesus pilots our ship, and he renews our joy and cleanses us by his blood continually all the day long. God delights in the obedience of his children as they walk in the path laid before them.
And in times like we are having this week we are reminded that God surely prepares a table before us where we can get all that we need for life and for joy. He is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider.
Our cup of blessing is running over, for who can tell just how much our Heavenly Father really does for us. There is no doubt that God sends blessings our way that we aren’t even aware of sometimes.
This week, when you gather with your family and friends to enjoy your Thanksgiving Feast, I know that you will also pause to thank the Lord in Heaven who provides all things good for your life. It’s like Sis. Starla says in her “Written Epistle”, don’t get too busy to remember and to teach your children what we should be truly thankful for.
Not only do we get to feast on the blessings of this world, and maybe some good baked or fried turkey with all the stuffings, dressings, veggies and desserts you can eat, (and maybe shouldn’t eat), but we also must never forget that we are privileged to be able to feast upon the Good Word of God.
It seems that many of the great events of the Bible were centered around times of feasting.
Lot was delivered by two angels from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah after having given a feast in their honor.
Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac, his son of promise, was weaned.
God instituted the Feast of Unleavened Bread to commemorate the deliverance of Israel from the armies of Pharaoh; the feast of Passover to commemorate the passage of the angel of death through the land of Egypt where the blood of the lamb applied to the doorposts of their homes became their means of salvation; and he instituted the feasts of Firstfruits for the celebration of the harvest; and the feast of Tabernacles to commemorate their passage through the wilderness on the way to their Promised Land.
I was also at a feast, a marriage feast, where Jesus performed his first miracle, turning the water into wine.
It was at the time of the various feasts that Jesus would enter Jerusalem and many of the miracles of his ministry would be completed.
But the greatest of all was the fact that the feast of the Passover marked the time when Jesus would give his life for you and me, purchasing our salvation on Calvary.
I’m so thankful today that God has given us some good and precious gifts through the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross.
He gave us the ability to feel clean, not just from the dirt of this world upon our skin, but from the guilt of sin that invades our hearts. Today I can feel free and I can rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus has saved my eternal soul. No greater gift could he give me than that and I thank the Lord for what Jesus has done for me.
Jesus gives us his righteousness. No, we aren’t perfect, and we never shall be in this body of flesh. But we are perfect in the realm of the spirit, and if we are washed in the blood of the Lamb, we are perfect before God. Thank God for the robes of righteousness that I could never earn or buy.
Jesus gives us love – a love that many of the world cannot understand. It’s much more than infatuation, much more than filial, or family love for my brothers and sister in the Lord, but it is Agape Love – a love without conditions. Most of mankind cannot love those who become their enemies, but the God kind of love forces me love people even though they are unlovable.
We have so much to be thankful for, but how do we know that God has given us such wonderful blessings? We know it by studying his Word to know more of him.
Do you love desserts? Let me tell you that there is nothing sweeter than feasting upon God’s Word. Psalms 119:103-105, "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
The more you feast on God’s Word, the better it tastes. I love coconut pie, but even that begins to lose its taste after a while, but the Word of God just gets sweeter all the time. The more I consume it, the more I want it, and there’s a never ending supply.
Do you have as much a hunger for the Word and for the good things of God as you do for turkey and dressing?
If you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, then you know that there is nothing better than Jesus. Like pure honey and good food that excites your taste buds, you love to learn more about Jesus and his Word and he gets sweeter every day.
Through the Word I get understanding, and I come to know the will of God for my life. Through his Word I learn how to worship the Lord, because I learn of his nature, of his law and of his perfect love for me.
Through his Word I learn to remain true to God and I learn to hate anything that opposes the Word. The ways of sin are revealed and the false teachers are exposed. Jesus wants me to remain faithful and true and he gives me every tool I need to make Heaven my home.
As you get ready to sit down at your dinner table on this Thanksgiving Day, just pause for a moment and bring to your remembrance just how much God has blessed you. Share that with other people and maybe they will come to know Jesus as you do.
Now, if you don’t know Jesus this morning, you still have much to be thankful for, and one of the greatest blessings you have is the fact that you are still alive, and that God has given you another chance to learn about him and receive him into your heart.
Matthew 5:45, "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."
What that simply means is that the mercies and grace of God are extended to all men because of His great love for all, but just because we enjoy the blessings of God doesn’t mean that we deserve them, or that we are in right standing with him.
This morning Jesus has blessed you beyond measure and he has drawn you, by the Holy Spirit, into his presence to hear his Word one more time.
You can truly have something to be thankful for this morning. If you will give your heart and life to Jesus, and let him be the Lord of your life, then you will walk out of this building today as a new man, with a new heart and a new outlook on life.
Why not learn what truly being thankful is all about and giving your heart to Jesus today? There is no greater thanks you can give than to be thankful enough to receive Christ as your Savior and worship him as Lord.
